Madjai and the Djinn
by KelticDream13
Summary: sequel to Desert Mystery Man. Ardeth is married, kids and evil again shows its head.


The battle came to an end, and the dead littered the sands. Black and gray robes lay as the sands began to blow, covering the bodies as though they had never been. Bringing to mind the saying, ashes to ashes dust to dust.   
  
Ardeth wiped his face with his forearm and looked over the scene of yet another battle with bandits. He had lost two of his warriors this day. The wind began blowing stronger, and he covered his face, thus hiding the strong and handsome features, only his expressive eyes revealed. He moved to his horse and called out to his men to mount up, time to return home.   
  
The wind blew and the sand danced on that wind, changing the makeup of the desert herself. Soon she would have a new face, just as she had millions of times before. The sun was beginning to settle in, so the moon could take its place, when he suddenly got the feeling that something was wrong. He felt it, and knew that he was right.   
  
In the Bedouin camp, no one was out; all were in their tents. The camels were making a noise, and the camel herders were busy with the stinky, cantankerous animals. The wind whipped at the tents and knocked over anything outside that wasn't tied down.   
  
Inside the leader's tent Valena sat on cushions and faced her brother. She was pleased to see him. He had been away for almost a year. He sat there drinking his sweet tea, and nibbled on the fruit before him. She could hear the howling wind outside and was glad she was not out there. She wished that Ardeth were there with her. She tended to worry about him until he returned from his patrols.   
  
"Well little sister, I am glad you are happy, though I don't understand it. How can you can be happy with so little? There's no real home or the other things you grew up with. Don't you miss it?"   
  
"Yes, I am. Happy I mean. I don't miss the news on TV, or the violence on the streets. I have a home here. It is simple and beautiful." She motioned with a slim hand around the large tent, to the colorful rugs and cushions and the wall hangings and the lanterns hanging from the ceiling. "I have plenty to eat and beautiful clothes to wear. I have real friends and my own family. What more could I want?"   
  
"Perhaps, you could want riches? Also parties and freedom to do what you want."   
  
"Riches, I have those beyond compare, I never was one for parties, and I am not a prisoner here. I have freedom, but I would never do anything to bring dishonor to my husband. For the first time in my life I am content. You need a wife and kids too. Then maybe you would understand."   
  
"Not for me, I don't want a wife. Henpecked like Ardeth? Not for me, too many ladies I have yet to meet."   
  
"Oh he is certainly not that. I do not rule him; he is his own man. I would not want him any other way. He is a real man." She sighed as she said it.   
  
"Why don't you take a vacation? Come with me to the States for a visit?"   
  
"No thanks, the only vacations I want is whenever I am traveling alone with Ardeth in the desert or our trips to Cairo." A smile lit up her face and her eyes sparkled. She remembered the times in the desert with her warrior husband. The nights under the large Egyptian moon. She grew hot thinking of her man. Her cheeks flushed, and she didn't see the hand that flashed out or the pain in her thigh as the needle struck home. She looked at her brother with disappointment and a question. "Why?" came from her in a whisper as she collapsed on the cushion, her vision fading into nothing.   
  
"I am sorry for this little sister, but Ankh Psamtek needs you."   
  
Ardeth came into the camp and rode up to his tent, dismounted and let a slave take his horse. He rushed into the tent, his sharp hawk eyes taking in the interior. "Valena!" He heard no reply and began to check the other parts of the tent, finding it empty. Returning to the main part of the tent, he spotted something among the cushions. He leaned down and picked it up. A needle.   
  
He rushed out of the tent and over to his sister's. As he pushed the flap aside and stepped in, he heard little voices filled with excitement and a rushing of little feet. He smiled as a small two-year-old boy rushed over to him. Ardeth came down on one knee and opened his arms as the little miniature of himself rushed into his arms. He closed them over his son. He kissed the small head. A tiny baby voice called, "Daddy!" A small toddling redhead rushed at him, a big smile on her face. She had a piece of candy in her hand and over her chubby cheeks. Ardeth reached out one arm and scooped up his daughter. One year old, and already had daddy around her little finger. She wrapped her little arms around his neck and gave him a wet sticky kiss on his cheek. He turned, and laughing he kissed her back.   
  
Cerera, his sister, appeared from the back and she was not smiling. Ardeth put both kids back down and reaching down plucked the sticky candy off his robe. He stood and faced her.   
  
"We were waiting for you to return. She was taken by her brother. One of the slaves saw him and tried to stop him and was killed. They have been gone for several hours now."   
  
"You take care of the children for me. I will find her and bring her back. But why would her brother do such a thing?"   
  
"He came while you were gone. He acted strange, and Valena seemed worried about him. That is why the kids were with me. You know how she sometimes knows things. Will he hurt her?"   
  
"He had better not, if he wants to live," he spoke, and his voice was steel and venomous. He did not know where he had taken her. He moved outside and began to call his warriors. He sent men in different directions in the desert with orders to bring both back, for he wanted to deal with his brother-in-law himself. May his god help him.   
  
He mounted his horse, and with his warriors, he headed to Cairo. He was following a feeling he had. That bond between Valena and himself, he could feel her. He could not lose her. His woman. Allah help anyone who harmed her. He would not return to his children without their mother. He had been married to his Valena for three years and it wasn't enough. He felt the blood lust come over him as he rode. The fearsome warrior was a sight to behold as he rode into Cairo, people quickly moved out of the way of the riders in black. He sent several of his men to seek answers.   
  
The sand had quit its movements and had settled once more. The citizens of Cairo were out in the streets, moving about their business. The tan, cream and gray robes rustled as they walked. Veiled women turned to look up at the riders and admired the tall men in black, in particular the strong handsome leader. Even as they feared him, they also felt a fascination for this man. He had a magnetism that drew women to him and made men jealous and apprehensive of him. Yet his own people would follow him into the jaws of the underworld, and would do so willingly.   
  
At this moment though, he looked like a vengeful god coming to seek retribution. Which in fact he had. He sat upon his horse and watched some of his men spread out and go down the side streets, people moving quickly out of the way of the Mad-Jai warriors.   
  
He turned and looked at his men and motioned for them to follow him. A dozen men still were with him. He rode to the small airstrip and stopped in front of a man he saw standing outside. He got down and faced the man; two of his warriors also dismounted and stood just behind him.   
  
"Where is the man with the hair the color of wheat and the woman with the hair of flame?"   
  
"I did nothing wrong. I just work here." The young man, his eyes wide with fright as he looked up at the tall man. Ardeth grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him off his feet, and up. The man's face began to turn red as his feet kicked and he grabbed at Ardeth's arm.   
  
"You will tell me now. I want that man. Speak while you still can."   
  
"He is in that plane over there!" He pointed in the direction to the two planes that sat on the tarmac. "The red one!" Ardeth dropped him onto his bottom and in a running jump mounted his horse and rode, his men on his heels.   
  
The plane taxied out on the runway and began to head away from them, gathering speed. Ardeth kicked his heels into his horse's sides and leaned over his neck, going faster. He took out a pistol and aimed it at the plane. He squeezed the trigger as he got closer. The bullet struck the plane on the pilot's side. As he got closer, he could look inside the plane. Darin, his brother-in-law, sat in the seat next to the pilot. In the back sat Valena, tied up and gagged. Next to her was . . . his heart stopped for a moment. It was not possible, but it was. Ankh-Psamtek, almost as bad as his old enemy in Hamunaptra. This one was a favorite of the goddess Sekhmet. Goddess of war and destruction. He had been buried alive, with no ears so he could not hear, no eyes so he could not see, no tongue so he could not speak. He seemed to have found replacements for those taken from him, for he turned and smiled over at Ardeth Bay and touched Valena's cheek. Then reaching over he kissed her on the lips. Ardeth reached out to grab the plane as it swerved to keep him away. Valena's eyes met his, and he saw the fear in them and her love for him.   
  
In a split moment a thousand thoughts went through his head. He needed to stop the plane, and the mummy. How to do it and not risk her? He nodded to his wife, and she ducked just as he fired. The bullet struck Ankh-Psamtek in the head. He just reached up and with his fingers dug into his own flesh and pulled out the bullet. He then proceeded to drop it into Valena's blouse front. She fainted, and her head rolled back.   
  
The Mad-Jai was firing from behind and had taken out one of the tires just as it gained the air. Ardeth aimed once more, and he sited and with his eyes starting to tear he pulled the trigger, and watched the pilot slump, and blood cover the window. The plane began to drop. Ardeth felt a great weight on his chest as he watched, and he knew that his heart was dying. He sat there as the others rode up and stopped beside him.   
  
He could see the plane as it tried to gain altitude and continue its journey. Apparently Darin was at the controls. It slowly began to level off and then to fly. Ardeth watched it and felt his stomach knot. His throat was certainly filled with rocks, which were choking him. Then saw the plane began to plunge again, and this time it did not stop. It went down with a trail of smoke and crashed, and a fireball rose over the trees.   
  
"NO!" screamed Ardeth, and the tears rushed into his eyes. He had failed her. He had promised to keep her safe, and to make her happy. He had failed. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned he saw Hagnkhef, his second in command, watching him. His eyes filled with pain for his friend and leader, and compassion. He gave the shoulder a squeeze.   
  
"I am sorry, my friend." Ardeth put his hand up and put it over his friend's and squeezed it. He turned and looked at the rest of the men. They had bowed their heads, apart from him, yet by his side Hagnekhef spoke to the men, and half a dozen rode off toward the crash site. Ardeth looked up and would have rode too, except for his friend's words.   
  
"No my friend, let us do it for you. They will bring her back. You need to see to your little ones. They need you." Ardeth smiled at him, and nodded. He turned and rode away with Hagnekhef beside him. He had stopped Ankh-Psamtek, and the cost was too great to bear. His grief was like a volcano and it was building up to a horrendous explosion. He know tested nothing as he rode back to his camp, surrounded by his silent warriors. But like the scarabs, the pain was eating him alive.   
  
Ardeth rode into the camp oblivious of anything but the pain that ate at him. He felt it rip into his bleeding soul, yet he sat up straight, and with his face covered only his eyes gave away his feelings to those gathered outside. His second in command had sent a rider ahead with the news. Women were wailing and all wore mourning robes. Their faces marked. Ardeth slowly got down from his horse, his movements much like that of a hundred-year-old man. He turned to his tent, ignoring the faces that mourned with him.   
  
He entered his tent and his two children ran to him. He saw his sister slip out of the tent quietly, leaving him alone with them. Slowly he sank down on the cushions and pulled them close to him. Sethe looked at his father, his dark eyes searching his father's face. While little Nefalena wrapped her arms around him and held on. Sethe looked at his father, then to the doorway covering.   
  
"Father, where is mama?" Ardeth gave a great sob and pulled his children closer. As his little son realized what was happening, that he would not see his mother again in this life, he began to cry on his father's shoulder. Nefalena cried because they did, she did not understand it yet. She was a baby.   
  
Hegnkhef stood outside the tent, putting his arm around Cerera, his wife. He had seen the greatest warrior brought to his knees this day. All the camp felt their beloved leader's loss, for they had great love for that man.   
  
Hours later, the great warrior paced his tent, feeling such emotion trying to make a bid for freedom. All wanted out at the same time. He saw her smiling face in the picture across the room on a small table, the one taken of them in Cairo. He gently picked it up and held it in his large hands, one finger tracing her face. What kind of warrior am I? I could not even save my own wife. Yet I am expected to save the world from evil. I should have let her go away three years ago, instead of bringing her into my world. Can you forgive me my love? Can you? For I cannot forgive myself for this. You always said I could do anything, and I was your hero. His hand came up and he blotted his eyes with the back of his hand, he walked over to the back of the tent where the children slept. There they lay, each in their own little bed. They were all that he had left of her now. Yet he didn't know if he wanted to go on without Valena. He stood watching them in their innocent sleep. Nefalena blowing little bubbles as she slept, Sethe holding a small stuffed teddy bear, which he had not done for the past year.   
  
The sound of horses riding into camp was heard on the still night. Ardeth turned and moved toward the sound. He gathered his robes tightly around him as he pushed the flap aside and exited the tent. He moved over to the riders.   
  
"My lord, we did not find your lady. She and Ankh-Psamtek were gone, the other two are dead. We searched the area." Ardeth felt a release of the pain in his chest at the other mans words. His inner voice screamed. She is alive. My Valena is alive. The joy inside him bloomed like a desert flower, and he felt alive again.   
  
"Gather all the warriors; we ride. We will track them from the crash."   
  
"Ardeth, we should wait till daylight."   
  
"No Hagnkhef, I need to find her now. Now, before it is too late. She needs me."   
  
"You need rest first. At first light we will leave and we will find her. Rest for now. Do it for her." Ardeth nodded and moved toward his tent.   
  
As the sun began it walk across the sky, the warriors in black left their camp and rode. Ardeth Bay was renewed, and felt the blood lust burning brightly inside him. He would slice up that evil thing so thinly that he would be finer that the sand beneath his horse's hooves, before he was done.   
  
As he rode with renewed purpose, Ardeth Bay watched the sky, seeing it in all its glory. Bright yellow orange, red and purple and colors in-between, such beauty soon to be replaced by the burning sun, and the great heat given off from such.   
  
They skirted the city and came up to the area where the plane crashed. The wreckage lay all burned and in pieces. Twisted metal and melted plastic lay everywhere. Ardeth got off his horse and walked toward the wreckage; he glanced at the bodies that still lay nearby, left uncovered and already blown by the flies. He saw the evil face again in his mind and felt the anger boil up inside him. The scorched earth left nothing to be seen of the escape or how the evil one had accomplished it.   
  
One of his warriors came up to him. Ardeth turned and looked over at the man. "What did you find?"   
  
"I found the tracks leading away from here. They head east. Two sets of tracks, one a woman." Ardeth nodded and moved to his horse. His men followed him. They rode, with one of the men, a tracker, leading the way, glancing at the ground as they went. Sometimes stopping to check something. Suddenly he turned and came back to his leader, and held out his hand, and Ardeth took the object in his. In his hand lay her scarf and in it was the medallion he had given her. His eyes traveled across the desert in the direction they were heading. Soon my love, I will be with you. He sent that message out to her, and felt she had received it.   
  
He held up his arm and motioned them to follow, as he rode the beautiful black stallion further away from the familiar. He wondered if she would want to stay with him when she was safe again, since he could not keep her safe.   
  
Valena sat down in the hot sand and leaned her back up against the stone statue that lay half out of the sand. She wiped her face with the end of her robe and looked across the sands from which she had traveled throughout the night. By now he knows I am alive and is coming for me. I know he will, for that is the kind of man he is; he keeps his promises. She wished she could feel his arms around her now. His breath on her cheek as she spoke to her, and told her his feelings. His lips on hers, causing her knees to suddenly grow weak, and her head to swim. She loved him with everything in her. To her even a glance from his dark beautiful expressive eyes were as a cool drink of water is to a man dying in the desert. She could not live without him. For he was her lifeblood; without him her heart would cease to beat.   
  
Ankh-Psamtek moved over to the sand in one place and he began to chat in ancient Egyptian and the sand began to bubble up, and out of it came a rolled up carpet. The man who stood there in the short kilt and sandals took it in his hands with a twist of his wrist he shook it out and it lay on the ground.   
  
Yep, thought Valena, just what we need, a carpet to sit on. As she watched him, he began to chant again and then the carpet began to rise from the sand and levitate above it. He turned to her and motioned her to join him.   
  
She turned and began to run in the opposite direction, which was difficult in the sand that tugged at her feet. She had barely gone four feet when a hand of iron grabbed her upper right arm and pulled her to a stop. She turned and looked up into his eyes. Grabbing her, he tossed her over his shoulder and moved over to the carpet and put her down on it and joined her in the middle. The carpet began to rise.   
  
Ardeth Bay spotted the carpet as it began to rise; he was almost close enough to grab it. Once again he spotted his wife being taken from him. He found it hard to believe what he was seeing, a flying carpet. So they were real, and he doubted you could shoot one down either. Valena made a move to throw herself off the carpet, and again that hand stopped her and her eyes watered at the pain in her wrist.   
  
Suddenly out of the sand rose a dozen of creatures that were part animal and part man. Ardeth watched them start toward him and his men. They all drew their weapons and readied themselves for the battle to come. He gave a war cry and they attacked the evil creatures. Long talons slashed at him as he struck again and again at the lion/man he fought. At one point it almost got its face close enough to bite his shoulder. He sliced the creature across the arm and the arm hung uselessly by its side. He struck again and the blade bit into the side of the furred head, and saw the thing burst into dust and was no more.   
  
Turning, Ardeth began to strike everything that stood in his way. His wrist of iron worked tirelessly, striking with lethal effect. When the last creature was sent back to its sandy home, he turned and looked around, seeing one of his men bending over another, checking the wound in his shoulder. Another lay on the sand, unmoving.   
  
Hagnkhef stood by his leader's left side. He reached out a hand and touched the ripped fabric around Ardeth's ribs. Ardeth looked at him, and then down at the wound and saw the blood dribbling down his clothes. "It is nothing, my friend."   
  
"Let me look at it and bind it up. Then we can move on." Ardeth shook his head and sat down, beginning to calm down, letting his mind wander back to the one thing that was a constant in his thoughts . . . Valena. One of his men came up to him and held out a bottle. He just sat there looking at it, not knowing what it was for. It was a bottle of gold, with markings around the outside. As he took it, he felt the warmth from it and the slight movement that reminded him of a heartbeat. He dropped it to the sands at his feet. As he got to his feet, the bottle began to smoke and he backed away. The smoke thickened for a moment and then when it had cleared, there stood a tall man more than seven feet in height. He bowed his baldhead to Ardeth and waited. He wore red balloon knee breeches, and a gold sash and a red vest. His large feet clad in red slippers with turned-up toes. None of the Mad-Jai warriors ran or moved.   
  
"Master." He bowed again. "I am Hassam your servant. What is your will?"   
  
"What are you, Hassam?"   
  
"I am a Djinn. I now will serve you. Ask what you wish."   
  
"Can you destroy Ankh-Psamtek?"   
  
"I can give you the way to destroy him. I can take you to him."   
  
"What of my wife?"   
  
"What would you know?"   
  
"What does he want with her?"   
  
"He will not kill her for now. He will become a God himself, if he can achieve his goal. He must have a child of his blood, and then he can take over that body forever. He needs your woman for that purpose. Ardeth stared at the taller man, his eyes becoming flint. It would never happen if he could help it. Ankh-Psamtek wasn't having any babies with his woman.   
  
"How do we get to where he has taken her?"   
  
"I will take you by magic. We will travel like the wind."   
  
Ardeth and his men began to levitate up into the air. Ardeth hated flying and was sure they would crash. Suddenly they were flying through the air, the ground beneath rushing by and buildings and trees growing smaller. The Djinn led the way; his laughter rang out, as he enjoyed his freedom after over 2000 years.   
  
Ankh-Psamtek regarded the girl who sat next to him. She was very pretty and so colorful to his dark eyes. He liked a woman who could stir his blood, which she did. He reached out a hand and touched her flaming hair and felt its satiny texture. She turned her head and looked at him, pulling her head away. He smiled over at her and thought to himself that soon he would have a new body and a new life.   
  
This thing beside her, she wished it would fall off the carpet. But he was too large for her to push off on her own. In his time, he had been an attractive man, but pretty is as pretty does. He was certainly grotesque inside. She wished she knew what he wanted with her.   
  
The flying carpet came down and hovered over an empty area of sand, for there was no apparent building that this thing was taking her to. He unfolded his long legs and stood, grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. They stepped off the carpet, and then he lead her a few feet away, waved his free arm and chanted in his tongue. The sand parted like the Red Sea and it revealed the steps leading down into a temple of some sort. Ankh-Psamtek pulled her with him down the steps; there he opened the door that slowly creaked open. They stepped inside the musty and stale smelling temple. The torches inside burst into life as they entered; the smell of incense was there suddenly. As they moved, Valena looked at the walls, trying to read what was there. There was a mention of Sekhmet who was the goddess of war and destruction and Anqu et, goddess of lust. Also Ankh Psamtek, but he rushed her too fast to read any of it.   
  
He led her into a room, which was opulent, and obviously had never been plundered by anyone. He moved over to the long table, turned to Valena and he grabbed her by her arms and looked down into her eyes.   
  
"Now, we will be here for a while, you will be required for a while. Then you can return to your . . . Mad-Jai warrior. Do you know that we have heard of that pesty warrior of yours, and his people? It is only fitting that I use his woman for my purposes. You will like sharing my bed. I will ask Anqu et to make it so you will always remember it." She began to fight him, trying to pull away from him. His hands tightened on her upper arms and she could feel the bruising of her skin. She brought her knee up and struck him at the juncture of his legs. He let out a moan and collapsed. She turned to run.   
  
Just as she reached the hallway and began running down it, she ran straight into something that felt like a brick wall. She fell backwards and landed on her bottom, looking up at the rock being in front of her. It was bending down reaching for her. She rolled away and came to her feet, and tried to avoid the large hands that reached for her. It grabbed her by the thigh and lifted her and she dangled upside down in his grip. He walked back to where Ankh-Psamtek was waiting. His face was livid with anger as he looked at her. She took a swing at him as he came near and missed. He backhanded her and she tasted blood.   
  
"If I didn't need you, I would kill you now," he spat out at her. He turned to the alter and began to chant again.   
  
Valena still being held upside down felt all her blood pooling in her head and she was developing a headache. Ardeth, where are you? She heard a voice inside her head answer I am coming. She smiled, for she had heard it. If Psam succeeded in his plan, she didn't think that Ardeth would want her any more, for it would dishonor him and the elders would probably insist he divorce her. She would fight till her last breath against Psam.   
  
Ankh-Psamtek motioned to the rockman to bring her over. She was laid down on the long table and he chained her to it by her left wrist. He leaned over her and smiled down at her. He grabbed her free arm and leaning down his mouth came down and captured hers. He kissed her brutally, bruising her lips and cutting off her breath. She twisted and could not get free. She screamed and bit him. He moved and slapped her again. Then began to chant and suddenly she couldn't fight him at all. She laid there, her eyes dazed and distant.   
  
"That is better, now you will do what I say."   
  
"I will." Her voice came from far away.   
  
"Then love me." She reached up and touched his face and smiled. She pulled his head down and their lips touched.   
  
On their travel across the sky, the flying MadJai were sighted by some nomads who were traveling across the desert. They were amazed to see the black clad forms over head. Especially as the one in red waved at them. Now they became even more cryptic than before. One more story to add to the legend.   
  
They began to slow and slowly descended and landed next to the carpet that still levitated above the sand, but found no sign of Valena or the evil one. When he found footprints in the sand that ended suddenly, he turned to Hassam.   
  
"Hassam, where are they?"   
  
"They are beneath your feet, in the temple of Sekhmet. Here you must hurry. "   
  
"I intend to. Is she alright?" Hassam held up one hand and spoke a few words in some obscure language and a clear ball formed above his hand. It was cloudy at first, and then it cleared. Ardeth moved closer to see. In it was... no! No that couldn't be. But it was. His wife in the arms of Ankh?Psamtek. "No!" He looked back at his men, who were turned away. He looked back at Hassam and motioned to the sands. Hassam waved his hand and the sand began to blow away. When the steps were revealed, Ardeth rushed down them and threw open the door and rushed down the hall, his men close behind him. The walls began to ripple, and from them came animal warriors, armed and ready for battle. They attacked the human warriors, as Ardeth kept going, Hassam following on his heels.   
  
"Master, I have made it so, when you face your enemy, you will have the same power as he. You will be equal." Ardeth was at a full run, his long legs eating up the distance. Trying to get there and stop that thing from taking what was his, if he were not already too late.   
  
He entered the room and his eyes moved swiftly around the room, searching. He found those he sought and he moved to where they lay. He could not believe his eyes, and his heart began to break. His wife was in the arms of Ahkh Psamtek, he was touching her intimately and their lips were locked in a french kiss. For a brief moment he wanted to kill her.   
  
Ankh-Psamtek looked up at him and smiled. He was relishing the look on the other man's face and it made this the more sweeter. "She is mine, when I am done you may have her back." Ardeth aimed his blade at him, intending to slice him in to several pieces. "I can see why you chose this woman." Ardeth saw red, and he advanced on the table. "Valena tell him, who you want to be with?" She turned drugged eyes on her husband, and then he knew.   
  
"I want Sam here. He is so cute." Ankh Psamtek glanced at her in surprise at the name she called him.   
  
"Valena, you don't want him. He has a spell on you. He will die for daring to touch you."   
  
"Oh Ardy, can't you wait till after I finish with him? " Psamtek laughed at her words, and Ardeth looked taken back by them, and her name for him.   
  
Ardeth moved with the speed of a viper and grabbed the other man, plucked him off his wife, and tossed him across the room. He looked at Valena, and with one hand covered her with the light blanket, before turning around. "Stay there, Valena."   
  
He did not see the pout on her face as he moved away. She grabbed one of the gossamer gowns that lay across the chest nearby and put it on. She turned to watch the two men.   
  
"So MadJai warrior, you think you can defeat me?" He waved a hand at Ardeth, and nothing happened. He was puzzled for a moment, and then he spotted the Djinn. "You!" He didn't like the smiling Djinn. "Can't you mind your own business?"   
  
"I am, I do as my master here bids me."   
  
Psamtek looked down at one of the tables against the wall and picked up the crystal sword that lay there. He turned and faced his rival. They met in the middle of the room, both swinging their blades at one another. Psamtek had not raised a sword in over two thousand years, but his body had not forgotten how, nor did his strength desert him. He moved on catlike feet and danced out of range of Ardeth's blade as it came within range. He struck out and also missed Ardeth who was very adept at avoiding blades as well.   
  
Psamtek took Ardeth's blade to his right side and he grunted when it cut into his flesh. He pulled a blade from behind him and threw it and stuck Ardeth in the shoulder with it. Ardeth's expression never changed, as he put up his hand and pulled it from his shoulder and threw it back. He struck Psamtek in the stomach. He doubled over and grasped the handle in his large hand, for the blade was deeply buried inside him. He pulled at it, and found it stuck. At that moment Ardeth moved and lopped off his head. It rolled around the floor before settling in front of the statue of Sekhmet and there the eyes sightlessly watched the idol. Ardeth turned just as his men, rushed in, ready for another battle. Ardeth ignored them and moved over to his wife. She turned away slightly and bent her head. He reached out and very gently put two fingers under her chin and lifted her head so he could see into her eyes. He saw the tears that had begun to fall down her cheeks.   
  
"Valena, you are safe now. I have avenged your honor. Are you alright?" She pulled away from him and stepped back.   
  
"I am sorry Ardeth, I didn't mean to." He reached out and pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.   
  
"You did nothing wrong, he did. No matter what, you are my wife and I love you. Nothing can ever change that, as long as you love me." She began to sob as he held her.   
  
"I don't know why, but I did want to. I don't know why." His hand was against the side of her head and he rubbed her cheek and spoke gently to her.   
  
"No you didn't. The goddess Anqu et was behind that. I know you, my wife, and I trust you to be faithful to me, out of your love for me. Don't cry, my love."   
  
"He didn't... you must believe me. It didn't get that far."   
  
"I believe you, my love. Please stop crying, you are tearing my heart out with your tears." He spoke the truth to her, in that he believed her. He also knew he would never let her go. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the skin that was revealed in the opening of his robe.   
  
"I love you Ardeth. Thank you for saving me. You are my knight in shining armor." He smiled at that.   
  
"But in your stories, the bad guy always wears the black."   
  
"Yes, but they never met you."   
  
The MadJai rode into camp tired and hungry. It was early morning and the camp was just stirring. Ardeth jumped down and reached up and pulled Valena off his horse. She moved over to their tent and he reached over her head and pulled the flap aside for her. She entered, and there sat her babies. She smiled and held out her arms to them. They both yelled,"Mommy!" then rushed into her arms, and she came down on the cushions and held them tightly against her. She was trading kisses with them, and she was crying.   
  
Ardeth stood there watching the three most important people in his life. All was well again with his world. He began to think and decided that now was the time to do something special for his beautiful wife. He had the perfect plan.   
  
Later that afternoon, Ardeth walked out of his tent, Valena's hand held in his. He was smiling, dressed in black jeans and shirt, and Valena was wearing a pale peach sundress and heels. Hassam awaited them and he was smiling.   
  
"Are you ready Master?"   
  
"Yes Hassam, we are ready." Hassan waved and the carpet came up to them. Ardeth help Valena onto the carpet and sat beside her. It began to rise in the air and Valena and Ardeth waved to those below. He leaned and kissed her on the lips and she hugged his neck.   
  
She looked at Ardeth and smiled with love and lust. For he was even more handsome dressed in the clothes he now wore. He was just plain handsome no matter what he wore or didn't wear. She truly loved this man with all her heart. He had made her wish come true. He was taking her to the States, to her family for a vacation. She would get to show him her country. She couldn't wait to show him off.   
  
The End 


End file.
